Summer Internship is often called the lull before the storm (Read Final Placement). After landing from frying pan to fire (read Engineering to MBA), my thoughts were beginning to match with those of my parents ( kya hoga tera, aage kya karega).
After a tough decision of choosing whether to go for finance of marketing, I opted to be a ever roaming, ever active marketing guy instead of bookworm finance guy. Almost one year had passed & not a single balance sheet of mine had ever tallied. So I had a strong belief that Finance is not my cup of the tea. In my institute if you are not a finance student, people gave such stares which indirectly asked ' what’s wrong with you?’.
So when summer internship companies started coming in, often doing a double task of recruiting prospective employees from 2nd year and summer interns from 1st, students with laidback attitude often had to wait for 'Cream' students to get selected.
My criterion was very clear: 1.No sales & field work 2.I won't work for free.
So when there came a IT company with an interesting profile, I immediately applied. Got selected too! Interview was a cakewalk! Total of four students’ were selected from my institute. I was getting a stipend of Rs 5000 too! Though when I said this to my mother she busted out 'Iske liye mba kar raha hai? Woh tera dost xyz call center mein ho kar 30k kama raha hai'! I knew I could not win against her so I did a wise thing of keeping my mouth shut! Still I was elated because my criteria was fulfilled- no sales, no field work & a stipend too! The profile offered was Competition analysis. Obsessed so much with so many jargons after reading Philip Kotler books I thought now sky is the limit for me!
The first shocker came in form of an Email. I had to report at their main office which was good 3 hours travelling from my house. And when the day finally came, we realized time is often a constraint for our seniors. Reality dawned and we yawned! The Jargon ‘ Competition Analysis ’ was just a namesake. My objection to Sales & field work was rejected with a valid logic of ‘ How would you analyze your competitors when you don’t know what are they offering? ’
But I also realized in this period that field work can be fun, especially if you are doing it at MacDonald’s or Pizza Hut. All you have to do is run out with your mobile when your boss calls, so that he hears the traffic noise behind you and trusts you that you are really on field. Though torture in the beginning, in the hindsight it was fun! Best part is preparing the report. And obviously manipulation of data! Amazing part is how you turn your friends into clients – “Koi Call karega tho bol tujhe 1TB ka Storage chahiye”. But behind this madness there lies some serious learning. Something you would carry forward when you permanently enter the corporate world.
Also learnt a lesson for life – A mechanic cannot keep his clothes clean if he has to repair the car. One has to get dirty, know the nitty-gritties to succeed in that field!
If teachers form a basic entity of our school lives, I would say Internship is the base for Corporate life!